(Text and Audio)
Title: Blood Money, Part Two
Jolinda Feldner “Was he a mallard?”
(She missed the point.)
The Field of Blood
Their legalism knows no bounds! They fully recognize the immorality of the basis of this money, they don’t even attempt to deny or minimize the role they played in making in blood money, but they are so disconnected from the heart of the matter, they are so focused on the unimportant aspects, that they are actually concerned that this money be used in a way as to not defile the Temple.
In other words, they are asking this question:
How can we use this money without violating the Law?
They SHOULD be asking:
How could I have conspired to have an innocent man condemned?
This is a perfect echo of Jesus’s rebuke earlier in Matthew 23:23 when Jesus says
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone.”
Truly, they don’t get it. They don’t understand the weightier matters of the Law. This causes me, as your pastor, to want to take a measured pause at this moment and ask a difficult but necessary question.
Jesus reminds us that the weightier matters of the law are things like justice and mercy and faith (all of which the Sanhedrin was severely lacking when they carried out this plot to kill Jesus) but here is my question for us today in 2017:
What are the less important aspects of our lives that we elevate to too high a place? What are the pitfalls and roadblocks that can keep us from being focused on the right things?
I want to ask this in three sections, the first being the church:
What are non-essential issues in the Church that can become pitfalls if we don’t prioritize them properly? (Give them the first one to get the ball rolling.)
- Attendance
- Method and mode of worship
- Money, Money, Money. (Pause) Money.
What are non-essential issues in our families that can become pitfalls if we don’t prioritize them properly
- Money/Finances
- Putting on a good “front.”
- Athletics/Activities
What are non-essential issues in our personal lives that can become pitfalls if we don’t prioritize them properly
- Career (rat race)
- Relationships
- Status/Respect
Close:
I want to close with two thoughts:
(Read vv 9-10)
Matthew makes a connection with both Zechariah 11:12-13 and Jeremiah 19:1-11, furthering his argument of Jesus being the Jewish Messiah.
Remember the point and mindset of Matthew as he writes this Gospel.
Bill Null’s observation about them having no problem paying the money out, but taking it back in after it’s blood money is quite the irony.
My point: you can see how warped one’s understanding of holiness can become if one’s priorities are not in order.